The present invention relates in general to systems for tracking and managing physical assets to improve productivity wherein the physical assets are subjected to a form of usage-based billing. In particular, this invention relates to a computer based system for automatically gathering, analyzing, and delivering information relating to the procurement and utilization of a plurality of such assets, such as a fleet of industrial equipment, so as to maximize productivity and to reduce the operating costs and administrative burdens associated with such assets such that it is practical to provide a form of usage-based billing that is beneficial to both the lessor and lessee.
Many businesses operate a plurality of physical assets to assist in the performance of the daily activities that are required to produce goods or services. For example, a typical manufacturer of goods often uses a fleet of industrial equipment, such as forklifts, conveyors, machine tools, and the like, in its daily operations to facilitate the manufacture of goods for its customers. In a similar manner, a typical provider of services also often employs a plurality of assets, such as computers, communications equipment, photo imaging equipment, and the like, in its daily operations to facilitate the performance of services for its customers. Traditionally, businesses have purchased such assets for use in their facilities and have employed staff to operate and maintain the assets in furtherance of the manufacture of goods or the performance of services.
Regardless of the specific nature of the business, the operation of these assets has usually been considered to be somewhat ancillary to the core nature of the business. In other words, although the use of these assets is helpful (indeed, sometimes necessary) for the business to manufacture the goods or provide the services in a cost efficient manner, the ownership, operation, and maintenance of such assets is not, of itself, a core function of the business. Consequently, the costs associated with the procurement and utilization of such assets have not been traditionally monitored or analyzed by the business in great detail. Rather, such costs have usually been considered to be relatively fixed costs of doing business, and any management of such assets has been performed, if at all, by relatively low level employees having little training or inclination to increase productivity and reduce costs.
Obviously, many businesses have been able to produce goods and provide services without actively managing the costs of obtaining and operating these assets. However, optimization of productivity and minimization of costs are key considerations in the modern business environment. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a computer based system for automatically gathering, analyzing, and delivering information relating to the procurement and utilization of a plurality of such assets, such as a fleet of industrial equipment, so as to maximize productivity and to reduce operating costs and administrative burdens associated with such assets.
It would also be desirable to be able to provide different parties having an interest in the asset ready access to up-to-date real-time and historical access to the information associated with asset usage, maintenance, performance, and the like. For example, besides the business using the asset, there is often a third party maintenance organization that helps to maintain the asset and a leasing company acting as the true asset owner that leases the asset to the business. Because the leasing company lacks appropriate information concerning the asset, the leasing arrangement typically takes this lack of information into account as part of the lease transaction, often through a combination of both a fixed lease amount tied to the asset regardless of use, as well as a financial cushion for the benefit of the true asset owner to cover unforeseen problems associated with the asset including over-use and improper maintenance.
In some situations it is known to provide a fixed flat rate rental contract that has a variable overtime provision (e.g., an asset owner charges an asset user a flat rate plus an overtime charge in excess of a maximum usage level). However, a manual recordation of the additional time is required as opposed to automatic recording.
In other situations it is known to provide billing tied to calendar usage (e.g., monthly). However, such usage does not take into account objective usage criteria such as actual hours of operation during a fixed time period.
However, if the leasing company and the business both had ready access to the same information concerning the asset, the leasing company may be willing to share an increased portion of the financial risk/reward associated with the asset's usage, maintenance, performance, and the like. With appropriate objective information it may be possible to distribute a portion of the responsibility to other responsible third parties including the asset manufacturer or supplier, and asset maintenance organization.